Saturday, November 16, 2013

Many players question the value of the Jerome Gambit. Their task is to play one of the refutations, follow through, and claim the point. One risk, however, is that of being so dismissive of the attack that the defender becomes inaccurate in his play. Again, observe the motto: In the Jerome Gambit, Black wins by force, White wins by farce.perrypawnpusher - strandskatanblitz, FICS, 20131.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Bxf7+

The Italian Four Knights Jerome Gambit.

5...Kxf7 6.Nxe5+ Nxe5 7.d4 Re8 8.dxc5 Kg8

Black's play is solid and scientific. He has castled-by-hand and is ready to counter-attack.

Instead, 11...Be6 was seen in perrypawnpusher - hklett, blitz, FICS, 2013 (1-0, 31) while 11...Neg4 was Houdini's post-game recommendation. (Often, harassing White's Queen with a Knight proves to be a time-waster, but not in this case.)

12.f3 Bh5 13.Bf4 Qe6 14.Qf2 c6 15.g4

Objectively, not the best move, but I was pretty sure that my opponent liked his 2-piece advantage on the Kingside, and would figure that he had an extra piece to invest in an attack - if he were properly provoked.15...Nfxg4?!

Despite Black's huffing and puffing, the game is even - which is not the expected outcome of the sacrifice.

Worse, it is time to recall the ironic aphorism inspired by many of Bill Wall's games: Often in the Jerome Gambit, when the game is equal, White is better. In this case, Black has invested (and continues to invest) too much time in his calculations, and his clock soon will become an issue.21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Rxf6 Qe5 23.Rf4 Rd2 24.Rf2 Qd4 25.Kg2 Rxf2+ 26.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 27.Kxf2 Kf7 28.Ke3 Ke6 29.Rd1 Ke5

White's extra pawn doesn't give him much more than a slight edge, but time is now on his side.

30.Rd7 Rb8 31.a4 a6 32.a5 b5 33.axb6

Better was33.Ra7

33...Rxb6 34.b3 Rb5

A time-pressure mistake that I missed. I wonder how much precious time my opponent spent trying to figure out why I didn't simply capture the Rook.35.Rd4 Rc5 36.Rd3 a537.Na4

Black would do better to follow through on his plan to castle-by-hand: 9...Kg8 10.f4 Nf7. The problem seems to be that he is trying to do too many good things at once - play ...Qf6, safeguard his King, hit back in the center with ...d5.10.f4 N5g6 11.Be3 d5?12.cxd6 Ng8

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

The game Pete Banks ("blackburne") referred to in the last post packs a lot of interesting chess in less than a dozen moves. It blew my mind.Clark (Halesowen),M - Lloyd (Greenlands),J Worcester County League D2, 20131.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Bd7 A bit unusual for a Philidor Defense. When I first saw it I figured that Black was planning on answering 4.d4 with 4...exd4 and then 5...Nc6.4.d4 b5

This is Black's idea, quite unexpected. Now Houdini, analyzing, goes to town, showing White working over the Queenside and then winning a pawn: 5.Bd5 c6 6.Bb3 exd4 7.Qxd4 Na6 8.a4 Nc5 9.axb5 Nxb3 10.cxb3 cxb5 11.0-0 Nf6 12.Bf4 Be7 13.Bxd6. 5.Bxf7+I am not going to call this a "Jerome" anything - but I like the move. The meanest thing Houdini has to say about it is that it leads to an even game.5...Kxf7Of course, Black has to take the sacrifice, as the oppositional 5...Ke7 is met by 6.Bxg8 h6 7.dxe5 Rxg8 8.Qd5. 6.Ng5+

Sunday, November 10, 2013

In a comment to "Curse You, Red Baron!" Pete Banks ("blackburne") wroteHi Rick, you seem to class anything with an early Bxf7 as some kind of Jerome these days. A member of my club recently won an OTB game in 10 moves after saccing on move 5. I would class it as a Philidor, but if you're interested, it's here:http://www.halesowenchessclub.org.uk/mcvjl.htm

My response -Hi Pete,Thanks for the game reference. I'll share the line with Readers in a few posts. (I'm always disappointed when my opponent plays 2...d6.)I've expanded coverage in this blog from Jerome Gambit games to Jerome-like, Jerome-ish, and Jerome-inspired lines, as many of those who play the "standard" Jerome also like to toss in Bxf7+ elsewhere.Best wishes,Rick

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About Me

I've been researching Alonzo Wheeler Jerome's gambit since 2001. I am always interested in receiving games and analysis: as old as 1874, when the opening first was published, or as recent as today -- casual or serious, blitz or classical time settings, human or computer (or both).
Readers can reach me at richardfkennedy@hotmail.com.perrypawnpusher is the name I play under at different chess sites.
My book reviews and fiction were at Chessville.com - while it lived. I have written for Chess Life, School Mates, and Chess Life for Kids.
Dedicated researchers may connect my name to that of Riley Sheffield - we co-wrote The Marshall Gambit in the French and Sicilian Defenses , published by Dale Brandreth's Caissa in 1988.